Richmond Heights court conversion nears completion, reopening may come next month

Richmond Heights is getting a faster payoff from its Highland Road court conversion than officials first expected. Cameron Campbell, the city’s parks and recreation director, told City Council the work at 27285 Highland Road was nearing completion and that the public could be back on the site next month, not in mid-June as previously discussed.

That schedule shift matters because it turns a long-closed renovation into an early return to play. The project is rebuilding aging tennis courts at Richmond Heights Community Park, a city site next to local schools, and converting the layout into two regulation tennis courts and six pickleball courts. For players, that means the park is not just being repaired. It is coming back with a much more usable mix of court space than it had before.

The city locked in the work earlier this year when Council passed Resolution No. 25-2026 on Feb. 24, authorizing Mayor Kim A. Thomas to enter into a purchase agreement with Site Technology, Inc. through the Ohio Buys purchasing program. The city’s legislation page puts the total net cost at $164,078. The proposal calls for hot tar crack fill, geotextile fabric, net post installation, color coating and striping, all aimed at turning worn surfaces into a fresh multi-use complex that can actually hold up to regular traffic.

The quicker reopening also changes the court map for Richmond Heights in a practical way. Six pickleball courts give the city a real cluster of outdoor play instead of a token retrofit, and that makes the site far more useful for everyday games and organized use once the gates open again. The city’s recreation department says it is committed to inclusive, engaging and accessible programs, services and facilities for all ages, and this project fits that mission better than a simple patch job on old tennis courts.

The timing lands in the middle of a bigger pickleball surge. USA Pickleball’s 2025 annual growth report says the Pickleheads database added more than 2,300 new locations last year, bringing the national total to 18,258, while the Sports & Fitness Industry Association says about 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025. Site Technology, which has been in business since 1984, works on tennis, pickleball, basketball and running-track projects for cities, schools, parks and HOAs, the kind of track record municipalities lean on when they want a court build to move quickly and reopen cleanly.